Top 7 Restaurants in Chengdu – A taste of the Chinese food heritage

The hotpot experience at Lao Ma Tou is hands-down a winner! The massive boiling pots of fiery broth is the perfect accompaniment for feasting on some frog or pig brain, should you fancy it! If a less mainstream dish would suit your needs better, they also have a range of other dishes available to please you with more commonplace ingredients. Given their eye-popping items on the menu, some the usual and some bizarre as could be, it is safe to say that the crowd at Lao Ma Tou know how to mix it up.

The intensely flavorful assortment of dishes on offer at Qin Shan Zhai comes with a deep influence from ancient Chinese medical practices and is commonly identified as one of the best restaurants in Chengdu. Their signature dishes like the seared mountain yam and marbled pork with green beans are a popular choice among many visitors for the unique local twist that has been incorporated into these healthy foods. A highlight of the restaurant is its lovely garden and pond that have been beautifully landscaped and managed and certainly chimes in with the therapeutic feels of the food itself.

A typical neighbourhood ‘fly’ restaurant turned to one of the most popular hangouts in Chengdu, this joint offers meals prepared with modest attention and delivering the sense of comfort in Sichuanese food to the next level. Some of its famous dishes are pork belly steamed in lotus leaves, spicy mapo tofu and pork ribs served with pickles. This restaurant is also located at proximity to popular accommodation options the likes of Dorsett Grand Chengdu

Owned and founded by celebrity chef Lan Guijun, this restaurant is as exclusive as an eatery could get; only 18 seats in the house and serving up a luxurious slice of China’s food culture with the finest ingredients sourced from the best of China. To add to their obnoxiously good food, their exquisite presentation skills together with the masterful technique of food pairing to bring out the best combinations in food they make are rather commendable qualities that constantly solidifies their reputation, enabling them to play in the same leagues as many a luxurious world-class Chengdu hotel.

Their degustation menu features over 30 courses of carefully curated food items deducing from complex Chinese flavours. Some of the highlights on their menu are rice jelly with chilli and abalone, pigeon-breast meat floss and even their signature thinly sliced smoked duck

Best known for its cold noodles, any regular customer will convince you that there is nothing in the world that helps cope with Chengdu’s hot and humid summers. Furthermore, their dumplings in chilli oil and their sweet and spicy noodles are definite must-try’s.

If you are looking for anything duck, you know where to quack your way to! Wen Ya Zi is a paradise for duck-lovers as they make magic with whichever way you want it to be; roasted, broiled steamed, you name it! The elegantly designed menu with its million-dollar food pictures was surely only intended for the best although you might end up wanting to have a hit off it all!

Going beyond the traditional Sichuanese palette, this family-run business serves up some spectacular quality burgers as well as other North American food. Having said that, they still manage to incorporate the packing punch of the locality in its burgers with innovations like the Sichuan burger, made with fresh imported American beef with Chinese-style bits and bobs within the recipe. What is noteworthy is that they have got their beer game strong with an extensive selection of local as well as international brews in the house!